Tag Archives: words

Did you think all this witty repartee just jumps into my head at will?

No. It doesn’t. Not even close.

Everyone knows writing is a solitary, ofttimes monotonous life and this is why. Creativity, while at times coming in bursts and flames of speed, usually…doesn’t. It’s hours, days, months, sitting at a laptop, playing with phrases, rearranging words, charging emotions with verbs and descriptors, bleeding, spewing, dying and then being reborn until finally FINALLY the perfect sentence or snippet of dialogue that reveals sososososo much more than is said, is created.

Yeah…it’s just like that.

Every day.

Every. Friggin’. Day.

Can I get an “AMEN” from all my writer friends out in the blogosphere because you know this is true?!

Anyone who’s ever been bullied or taunted as a child ( or even adult) knows this in their soul. Words can spear you straight through the heart, cut you off at the knees, and slice into your gut.

Late comic George Carlin made a million bucks doing a routine called the 7 Dirty Words. In 1972, he said these 7 words in a comedy club, forever immortalizing them:

Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits.

It is now 2017. 45 years later than when Carlin first spoke those words in public. Since that time, society has shifted in what it deems inappropriate language use. Even just a few years ago you wouldn’t hear commercial television characters uttering anything worse than an occasional “Crap!” as an invective or a curse. In a recent show on NBC, I heard two characters say the second and last words above before the first commercial break. Cable television has no such restrictions on language and I can tell you truthfully, I have heard every one of the above words – and a few more I hate – said without a flinch by the actors.

In America, we live by the law of freedom of speech. It’s a good freedom. We can share opinions that differ, dialogues that intrigue us, and books that elevate and entertain us. And while that basic freedom is challenged every single day, it still stands strong.

But…

There are some words, expressions, and phrases that shouldn’t be said aloud. Remember, words have power to hurt, maim, and incite. As a writer of romantic fiction, there are some words I would never use in a book. You probably think those words are slang ones for things related to the sex act. You would be wrong. I have no problem using words – slang or otherwise – to describe anatomy. What I do have is trouble using words that are mainly pejoratives. Words that do not belong in public speech or on the pages of books.

So…words that make me go “ick.” In no particular order, here they are:

twat, cunt, retard,any variation of the “N” word ( I can’t even write it, it’s so hateful). Any word that is derogatory to an ethnic group ( kike, wop, etc. You know the words I mean) I truly hatehatehate the word MOIST. I shudder when I write it.

Every word mentioned above ( except for moist, because that’s just my own particular hatefest word) is a pejorative. A word that makes me quiver and quake with anger, because they are used in totally negative ways. I see no positive translations in any of those words.

Words that DON’T make me go ick? Any word that falls into this category:

‘Nuff said.

Because this is week 9 of the 52 week MFRW authors blog hop, here are some other authors who are also writing about words that make they go “ick” today. Check them out…

So, all you NaNoWriMo peeps… how’s it going?
Have you gotten into the habit of writing every day yet? Or are you still struggling with life and finding little bits of time to carve out for you to write?
I’ll admit I’m having a little trouble fitting in as much writing as I’d like right now. I’m away from home, spending time with my daughter, and trying to fit in a little laptop time here and there has been challenging. I’m doing it, but my insomnia – which is active when I sleep in my own bed and rampant when in another – hasn’t actually helped me this round, because I’m so bloody tired at the end of our days, both physically and mentally, and even though I’m not sleeping, I have no where-with-all to do my usual 2-5 am writing sprints. Which truly, sucks,

And I just read that paragraph out loud and realized what a ridiculous whiner I am!!!

Hee Hee.

Writing shouldn’t be a burden…or a chore…or something that needs to get done just to say it was, or get to a finish line. It should be, what it is to me actually: A blessing. First, last, and always.

Everyone who knows me knows I lovelovelovewords. My favorite Christmas present when I was a kid? A dictionary. When I’m writing, that old tried and true tome is never far from my side. I know it’s easier to look things up in an on-line dictionary, but in this one case, I am a purist.

Words give meaning and purpose to my life. When I come up with a dynamite sentence filled with words that just sing to me – one that even I sit back and say “Well done” to – I am in word-writing nirvana.

I think my first favorite word ever came to me when I was 5 years old. Motivation.

The reason motivation was my first favorite word was because it was the theme in my very first favorite book The Little Engine that Could. That little train was so determined to get up and over the mountain he let nothing stop him. I realize he was self-motivated, but to me it’s the same thing!

Skip ahead a few years and I’m now 11 and reading Pride and Prejudice for the first of 45 times – and that’s a true statement. I’ve read it every year since I was 11 so that makes me….you figure it out. Anyway, the next favorite word was: Universally, as in “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” Love that word because it is all–encompassing. When you read the word you feel a sense of commonality and connection with, well, everyone else! It’s…universal.

The teenage years brought with it new aspects of favorite words – many of them body parts and therefore unmentionable here – but two of my all time favorites were individualistic and oxymoron. Oxymoron, meaning contradictory terms appearing in conjunction, and Individualistic as in independent and self-reliant. As a writer, these two words spawn so many wonderful plot lines and character traits. Jumbo shrimp, clearly misunderstood, deafening silence, dull roar, small crowd. These are some of my favorite oxymorons. And the best part? Most people say them and don’t even realize what they are saying. Love that!

A few decades later and my favorite words are now mother and love. The mother one is easy: I became one and there has been no greater joy in my life. The Love one is also relatively easy: I write contemporary romance. The end product of every romance is a happily ever after ending with LOVE as its dominant force. So, DUH! Of course it’s my fav.

Any words you particularly like or use often? Come on… share. I love learning new words.

And if you’re looking for some new words to read, here’s a book filled with good ones!THE VOICES OF ANGELS

Love is the last thing Carly Lennox is looking for when she sets out on her new book tour. The independent, widowed author is content with a life spent writing and in raising her daughter. When newscaster Mike Woodard suggests they work on a television magazine profile based on her book, Carly’s thrilled, but guarded. His obvious desire to turn their relationship into something other than just a working one is more than she bargained for.

Mike Woodard is ambitious, and not only in his chosen profession. He wants Carly, maybe more than he’s ever wanted anything or anyone else. As he tells her, he’s a patient man. But the more they’re together, Mike realizes it isn’t simply desire beating within him. Carly Lennox is the missing piece in his life. Getting her to accept it-and him-may just be the toughest assignment he’s ever taken on.

I wasn’t a normal kid. By that I don’t mean I was abnormal. I didn’t have horns; wasn’t born with three eyes, or two hearts. I experienced the same childhood illnesses and complaints other children did and went to school on the correct chronological spectrum.

Where I was different, though, was in the material things kids want.

Growing up, children my age would ask for Christmas and birthday presents like a new bike, or an Easy Bake Oven. Barbie dolls were big, as were roller skates. When it came to writing out a Christmas wish list every year, I typically had three items:

Rock’em Sock’em Robots

Books

Pencils and paper

I was never going to get Rock’Em Sock’Em Robots, my mother explained, because that was a present for boys, not girls. Hey, this was the ‘60’s. People were still unbersexist and not afraid to talk about it.

But I did get the books I asked for and the writing instruments. My favorite present when I turned 8? A Webster’s Dictionary.

See? Not a normal kid.

Even as a child I loved words. Words lived in dictionaries. Words led to sentences, which turned into pages, then chapters in a book. And I loved books. More than anything.

I used to try and learn a new word everyday after I received my dictionary. Words like escarole and calliope; diminutive and xanthene. These wounds rolled off my tongue, harsh and alien at first, but after practicing them a thousand times, they were familiar friends.

So, with all the hundreds of thousands of words in our language, which are my favorites?

If you ask a parent “which child is your favorite,”what response do you get?

If you ask a chef what is their favorite taste, or flavor profile, what do they tell you?

Can an ornithologist choose their favorite bird? Will a philatelist be able to select a favored stamp?

My response would probably be the same as these: I don’t have a favorite because I love them all.

Words have power. They have depth. The can signify courage, fear; describe emotions and colors. They can make you think of a thousand reasons “why” and answer a thousand more times “why not?”

As a writer I use words to tell a story. But I use them for so much more, really.

Here’s a quick story: John meets Mary, falls in love with her, and they marry. Eleven words that tell a story. None of the words are repeated, all but two are monosyllabic, and yet they complete a circle – beginning to end.

It should be enough. But you know it’s not. How did John and Mary meet? Why did they, with the millions of other people on the planet to choose from, fall in love with each other? When did they marry? Who are their children? Their families? What do they do to make a living? All of this is the actual story I can tell with – you got it – words.

Quite simply put, words make me happy. I like reading them on the page, speaking them out loud, hearing them, learning them, using them and playing with them.